


You belong with me

by TheFoolsKnight



Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Song lyric texting prank, Song: Delicate (Taylor Swift), Song: You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift), Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 22:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17796281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnight
Summary: Alec Lightwood is hopelessly in love with his best friend, Magnus Bane. But Magnus is dating Camille Belcourt, a girl whom Alec believes to be a nightmare dressed like a daydream. Basically, his life is your cliche high school romance drama.And then it all turns around when Alec's siblings dare him to prank Magnus. It was supposed to be a harmless prank. A 'song lyric texting prank', they said. Now only time can tell whether it ends up doing more harm or good.





	You belong with me

Alec loved his siblings, he really did. He just wished they weren't so adamant about everything.

After all it was their fault he was hiding under a blanket in his room, clutching onto the sheets and ignoring the voices outside his bedroom door.

Suddenly all was silent, and out of the silence came a voice. The voice he dreaded most at the moment.

"Alexander ?"

•••••

It was on Saturday night, when Alec and two of his siblings, Isabelle and Jace were playing truth or dare on the roof of their house. Isabelle was standing up, a little tipsy thanks to the alcohol they had smuggled from their father's office. (Said father was currently sleeping along with their mother, both of them unaware about their midnight rendezvous.) She was leaning against the railing, facing the small breeze that was blowing her way. Jace and Alec were sitting on the ground. Alec with his legs crossed and back pressed against the railing while Jace's legs were stretched out in front of him, propping himself up with his hands. In front of them, three glasses and a couple of bottles were placed.

Isabelle turned away from the railing, towards her brothers. Her eyes flickered between the two of them and landed on the elder boy.

"Alec," she said, lips curving up into a smile, "Truth or Dare ?"

"Dare." Alec immediately regretted saying that word when Isabelle's smile grew wider.

"Ever heard of a song lyric texting prank ?" She asked. Jace leaned forward, eyes glittering. He clearly knew what Isabelle was talking about. Alec didn't.

"No," he replied. "What's that ?"

"I'll show you." Jace pulled out his phone and a while later, Alec found himself sandwiched between both his siblings and was a whole lot more educated on the subject of song lyric texting pranks.

"So, what am I supposed to do ?" Alec asked as Jace turned off his phone, putting it away. Isabelle smirked at him, eyes glittering like black opals.

•••••

The next day was spent in a flurry of hangovers and Isabelle and Jace complaining about forgetting somthing.

"I swear I'm not remembering something important," Isabelle said for the thousandth time that day, flopping down onto a couch beside her younger brother Max, who was reading a manga. Max knew all about their endeavors, but would never tell their parents.

"Nothing that big happened last night, Izzy. Just let it go." Alec rolled his eyes, and glanced back at his phone. He was texting Magnus at the moment.

Magnus Bane was his best friend of many years. He was also Alec's crush. To top it all off, Magnus was dating a girl, Camille. Alec was convinced that Camille was an evil vampire, but Magnus didn't seem to think so. Ever since the two started dating, Alec and Magnus hung out less and less, and were talking more through texts than face to face. Alec could've had a chance with Magnus. He was, after all, bisexual. They both had come out to each other during a sleepover many months ago, before Magnus and Camille had started dating. But any hope Alec had of being with Magnus vanished in bits and pieces everytime he talked about or even mentioned Camille. Camille Belcourt didn't deserve Magnus Bane. Magnus was too good for her manipulative ass. Anyone could see that. Except for Magnus.

Alec was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone pinged. He looked down to see that Magnus had texted back and his fingers immediately moved to type out a reply.

"Nope. Pretty sure there was something important." Jace strolled in from outside, where he was talking to his girlfriend, Clary, on phone and sat down next to Alec. Alec wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what they had forgotten and wanted it to stay that way.

"What are you doing that's so important anyway ?" Isabelle asked, frowning at Alec's phone.

"Texting Magnus," replied Alec with a shrug. Then Jace, who was slouching, suddenly sat up straight. He yelled something incomprehensible, one hand reaching up to touch his hair. Max looked up from his manga for a second, staring at Jace like he was weirded out, then went back to reading.

"Jace, what the hell ?" Isabelle asked, staring at him as if he was running down the street with antlers on his head.

"Alec's dare !" he exclaimed. "We forgot Alec's-"

"Oh, yeah !" Isabelle shifted in her seat to look at him. Her eyes were wide, like she was in a test, thinking hard about a question, then remembered the answer in the nick of time. "You have to do it, Alec."

"What dare ?" Alec asked, feigning innocence, but Isabelle caught it.

"You know what dare ! The song lyric texting prank ! Magnus ! You have to !"

"We even decided the perfect song !" Jace turned in his seat to face Alec. "'You Belong With Me' by Taylor Swift, remember ?"

Alec's phone pinged again. He looked down and saw the words, 'Wanna hang out today? @ the park? I'm heading there rn'.

His heart soared for many reasons. One was that he was going to spend some time with Magnus after a long time. Another was that he could avoid this dare.

"I, uh, gotta go. Magnus wants to hang out." Alec was out of the house within minutes, ignoring Isabelle's cry of "This isn't over yet !"

•••••

Alec managed to avoid his siblings and the topic of the dare for the entirety of Monday. On Tuesday evening, however, when he was studying in his room, Jace and Isabelle barged in and after an hour of them pleading and arguing with him and Alec vehemently denying, the two somehow managed to coerce him into doing the dare. Their version of 'coercing' was grabbing Alec's phone and threatening to do it themselves. Alec decided that it would be better if he did it himself. Knowing his siblings, they could switch out 'You Belong With Me' with 'Dress' or any other song that was sure to screw over Alec twice as much as 'You Belong With Me' would.

So Alec sat on the bed, Isabelle on one side and Jace on the other, and texted a simple 'Hi' to Magnus. Magnus replied a a couple of minutes later.

With a heavy heart, Alec took a deep breath and started typing out the lyrics.

•••••

Alec : Hi

Magnus : Hey

Alec : You're on the phone with your girlfriend,

Magnus : Yeah I just got off the phone with her

Magnus : How'd you know ?

Alec : She's upset

Magnus : Ya..😔😔

Magnus : I don't understand why tho..

Magnus : All I did was say a joke about vampires !

Alec : She doesn't get your humor like I do

Magnus : Tru

Magnus : Anyway, wassup ?

Alec : I'm in my room, it's a typical Tuesday night

Magnus : reading ?

Alec : I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like

Magnus : Oh

Magnus : You don't even know anything about Camille's music taste lol

Alec : She'll never know your story like I do

Magnus : Why are we even talking about her ?

Alec : But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts

Magnus : No you don't you wear horrible holy sweaters

Alec : She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers

Magnus : holey*

Magnus : I don't really see what this has to do with anything

Alec : Dreaming 'bout the day, when you wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time

Magnus : Which is...?

"Alec, wait !"

"What, Izzy ?"

"Don't put the chorus yet. We'll do that in the end."

"Izzy's right. Let's save the best for the last."

"Okay, if you both say so..."

Alec : Walking the streets with you and your worn out jeans

Magnus : You didn't answer my question

Magnus : Also you're the one with the worn out jeans

Alec : I cannot help but think this is how it ought to be

Magnus : ..How what ought to be ?

Alec : Laughing on a park bench thinking to myself, 'Hey isn't this easy ?'

Magnus : This is the second time you've ignored my question

Magnus : You mean like on Sunday ? 

Magnus : Of course it's easy Alexander we're best friends

"Wow, look who just got friend zoned."

"Shut up, Jace."

Alec : And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town.

Magnus : Oh.. uh.. thanks

Magnus : You really think so ?

Magnus : I don't think Camille's ever given me such a compliment

"Of course she didn't. She's a little-"

"Isabelle !"

Alec : I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down

Magnus : Huh..

Magnus : Is it ?

Alec : You say you're fine, I know you better than that

Magnus : Of course you do

Magnus : And.. yeah.. maybe I'm not all okay

"Alec, just promise me that you'll take good care of Magnus when you get together. Please. I really wanna give him a hug right now."

"You're my sister. Aren't you supposed to be telling _him_ to take good care of me ?"

"Are we just going to ignore that Isabelle said 'When you two get together ?' Like it is an inevitable happening ?" "

“That’s because it is an inevitable happening!"

"Both of you, stop !"

Magnus : I have no idea where this conversation is going

Magnus : but I'm glad we're having it

Magnus : I'm glad I have you

Alec : What you doing with a girl like that ?

Magnus : I.. I've never really thought about it before.

Alec : She wears high heels, I wear sneakers

Magnus : I don't really see why you're bringing that up again

Alec : She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers

Magnus : I'm also up there on the bleachers with you honey

"Aww, he just called you 'honey'."

"Izzy, stop, he's already blushing like a tomato."

"I'm not blushing !"

"Sure, you're not."

Alec : Dreaming 'bout the day, when you wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time

Alec : I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night

Magnus : Yeah... We used to do that a lot

Magnus : Sorry I'm not spending so much time with you these days

Alec : I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry

Magnus : I know

Magnus : I'm always so happy when I'm with you

"He's coming to his senses ! At last !"

"Why must you be like this, Isabelle ?"

Alec : I know your favorite songs

Alec : And you tell me about your dreams

Magnus : Because we're best friends

"Friend zone counter : two."

"For God's sake, Jace-"

Alec : Think I know where you belong...

Magnus : Where?

Alec : Think I know it's with me...

Magnus : ...

Alec : Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you ?

Alec : Been here all along so why can't you see ?

Alec : You belong with me

Alec : Standing by and waiting at your back door

Alec : All this time, how could you not know, baby ?

Magnus : So I'm your baby now ?

Alec : You belong with me

Alec : Have you ever thought just maybe, you belong with me ?

Magnus : I did

Magnus : I just did

•••••

Alec stared at the screen in horror as Magnus went offline. On either side of him, Jace and Isabelle were staring at the phone with wide eyes, their jaws almost hitting the ground. But Alec could tell that they were not so secretly very amused.

"I need to explain this to Magnus," Alec breathed out. Isabelle only nodded.

Alec sent several texts to Magnus at once, explaining about the dare, and the song lyric texting prank, that it didn't really mean anything. But a reply didn't come until about half an hour later. Horror struck Alec like an arrow through his heart as he read it out loud.

"'Really ? But I just broke up with Camille...'" Alec looked up at his siblings who stared at him with expressions identical to his.

A ping.

"'We need to talk in person about this.'"

Another ping.

"'I'm coming over right now.'"

Alec's phone almost dropped to the ground.

Within moments, he drove his siblings out of the room and buried himself under his blankets. His phone pinged once or twice, but he ignored it. Outside the bedroom door, Isabelle and Jace turned their heads simultaneously as Magnus clambered up the stairs.

"Where's Alec ?" He asked. He looked as if he had been in a rush.

"Inside," Jace said, jerking his head towards the door. "He won't come out at all."

"Can I go in then ?" Isabelle and Jace looked at each other, then at Magnus.

"I don't think he wants you to," Isabelle replied.

"But why ? It was just a prank, wasn't it ? He shouldn't be so.." Magnus looked at the door. Isabelle thought that there had been a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Does he... Does he like me ? In that way ?"

"Look, Magnus," Isabelle began tentatively. "If you ask him, he will violently deny it, but he's madly in love with you. Really. You have to trust us on this one."

Jace nodded along at each of his words. "Really, Magnus. Everytime he looks at you, I think, 'I know that look.' The way he looks at you is same as the way Clary looks at me." Magnus was still staring at the door.

"Then I really need to talk to him," he said.

•••••

Alec was thinking of some lines from another Taylor Swift song, when he heard the voice. Magnus's voice.

"Alexander ?"

Alec froze. He wondered how Magnus had gotten inside his room. Then he realized that he'd never locked the door and mentally kicked himself. He felt the bed shift with Magnus's weight as the other boy sat beside him.

"So.. I don't know where to start, but- actually, can you come out of your cocoon ? I feel like I'm talking to a giant burrito."

Alec bit his cheek to stop himself from laughing, and sat up, pushing the blankets off himself. He looked down, refusing to meet Magnus's eyes.

"Alexander," said Magnus gently. "Look at me. Please ?"

Grudgingly, Alec's eyes flickered upwards, taking in all of Magnus - his black hair styled up in spikes, the brown of his skin which contrasted with the purple eye make-up he wore, and his green-gold eyes that shone like those of a cat in the dark of the room.

"Do you love me, Alec ?" he asked in the same gentle tone.

"No," Alec replied bluntly. Something seemed to shatter in Magnus's eyes at that one word.

"Then why ?" Magnus asked. Alec turned his head away from him. It wasn't that he didn't love Magnus. He was afraid of rejection, and afraid of losing their friendship because of that rejection. He'd rather stay in the friendzone than be rejected by Magnus.

"It was just a stupid dare, Magnus. It doesn't mean anything. Just let it go," Alec replied.

"Alec," Magnus said, and there was a sort of desperation in his voice. "You were the one who texted me, who made me realize that it was never Camille, it was always you, and now you say that it was a mistake, that it meant nothing at all. Do you realize how that makes me feel ?"

Alec opened his mouth to reply - he wasn't sure what - but before he could say a word Isabelle and Jace barged into the room.

"He's not going to say anything if you ask him like that, Magnus," Isabelle said, and moved to grab Alec's backpack lying on the ground. Alec realized what she was going to do and leaped up from the bed. Jace grabbed hold of his older brother and tackled him down, ignoring his protests.

Meanwhile Isabelle took one of Alec's notebooks, flipped to the last page and showed it to Magnus.

It was at that moment that Alec wished he could die.

He had this habit in classes, of flipping to the last page of his notebook and doodling. It often had something to do with Magnus. His name inscribed in a heart, or their initials inscribed in a heart, or both their names inscribed in a heart - basically, all the doodles involved Magnus's name, or both Alec's and Magnus's names, and hearts. He hoped with all his heart that this wasn't the notebook where he had written 'Alexander Lightwood-Bane'. That would mortify him to death.

Isabelle said something about giving them some privacy, and Jace let go of Alec, and then Magnus and Alec were alone in the room once more.

"So," Magnus spoke as if he wasn't sure how to approach the topic. "No wonder you never lend me your notebooks."

Alec was once again reminded of that Taylor Swift song he had been thinking of earlier-

_Is it cool that I said all that ?_

_Is it chill that you're in my head ?_

_Cause I know that it's delicate._

"I was afraid," Alec admitted. "That you'd reject me, and that we would lose our friendship. I accepted that we would always be close friends and none of this drama would ever have to come between us. I- it's just-" Alec stammered, trying to find the words, to explain to Magnus. Magnus shut him up by putting a finger to his lips.

"You don't have to be afraid," he said, smiling, moving his hand to place it on Alec's cheek instead. "I know it sounds silly, maybe even cheesy, but that prank opened my eyes. I realized that it was never Camille, it was always _you_. You know, many times before, when I was with Camille, I kept thinking of you, wishing I was with you instead - even during the times I really shouldn't be thinking of you. I should've realized it sooner, but I was too stupid to see it."

Alec was stunned. So stunned he couldn't speak a word.

"You know what's the difference between you and Camille, Alec ?" Magnus asked. Alec shook his head.

"Camille thought I belonged to her. But you say that I belong _with_ you." Magnus grinned, and the grin changed his face, lighting it up. "Don't you see ?"

"See what ?" asked Alec. Magnus didn't say anything. Instead he leaned in and pressed his lips against Alec's.

Somehow, that explained more than a thousand words ever could.

 


End file.
